Smithsonian Museum to Return 3 Bronzes to India

Smithsonian to Return Three Looted Bronzes to Indian Government

The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) will repatriate three cast-bronze sculptures of Hindu gods and their followers to the government of India, according to an announcement today, January 28. Dating back multiple centuries, the sculptures had been stolen from Tamil temples and smuggled out of India in the mid-20th century, leaving murky provenance records before the Smithsonian's acquisition. The museum said that one…

Smithsonian museum to return 3 bronzes to India

India News: Museums abroad are increasingly confronting the legacy of looted cultural heritage in their collections, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asia.

Smithsonian museum to return three South Indian bronzes to India - OrissaPOST

Washington: The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art has announced that it will return three historic South Indian bronze sculptures to India after provenance research established that the works had been illegally removed from temple settings decades ago. The museum Wednesday (local time) stated that one of the sculptures, a Chola-period “Shiva Nataraja,” will remain in the United States on a long-term loan agreed upon with the Indian gove…

Smithsonian to Return Three Looted Bronzes to India

News The sculptures of Hindu gods and their followers were stolen from Tamil temples and smuggled out of India in the mid-20th century. “Somaskanda” (Chola period, 12th century) Tamil Nadu state, India (all images courtesy the National Museum of Asian Art) The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) will repatriate three cast-bronze sculptures of Hindu gods and their followers to the government of India, according to an a…

Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art Returns Three Looted Sculptures to India

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art announced today that it will return three bronze sculptures to India, continuing a recent series of restitutions that last month included Khmer-period works returned to Cambodia. The three bronze figures —“Shiva Nataraja” (ca. 990), “Somaskanda” (12th century), and “Saint Sundarar with Paravai”—were sacred objects originally carried in temple processions before they were stolen. According to the m…

National Museum of Asian Art to Return Three Bronze Sculptures to the Government of India Following the Museum’s Extensive Provenance Research - National Museum of Asian Art

The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art announced today its plans to return three sculptures to the Government of India.